Panthers get second at KC Swim Classic

Park Hill South walked away with a second place finish at the Kansas City Classic over the weekend after falling just one point short of the first place winner Rockhurst, 291-290. New state qualifiers for the Panthers included Jacob Little in the 100 breaststroke and Tom Prinslow in the 100 freestyle. Park Hill finished seventh with a team score of 137 points. Both teams will have the next week off before competing in the conference meet next weekend, October 26th & 27th.

Trojans, Panthers ready for King of the Hill

The annual King of the Hill football game this Friday between Park Hill and Park Hill South takes on new significance with the two squaring off in a regular season finale which could directly affect their seeding in the district tournament, a new postseason format in Missouri, which starts next week. Both the Panthers (4-4) and Trojans (3-5) are coming off close Week Eight losses with Park Hill losing to St. Joe Central 32-29 and Park Hill South losing to Liberty North 24-21.

Familiar with each team’s style of play, perhaps the main point of preparation will be to maintain focus for a game that’s buildup has players and students full of anticipation days and weeks leading up to kickoff. Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox says his team can’t let the game against their rival serve as the sole highlight or lowlight of their season.

“I told our kids a couple years ago that the sooner we quit making a big deal about this game, we’ll be a lot more successful at winning it,” Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox said about his team, which last year beat the Trojans for the first time in seven years. “We can’t treat this any different than any other game. We can’t allow this to be our season each year. It’s a big game for our kids, our school, and community, but as far as preparation goes there isn’t much difference.”

Park Hill coach Greg Reynolds’s focus was also on the season as a whole and said big games usually have more to do with execution than what the other team does.

“We have to worry about us,” Reynolds said. “It doesn’t matter about anyone else.”

That’s not to say the teams haven’t been following each other’s progress and already have an idea of what their strengths and weaknesses are. Reynolds pointed to Park Hill South’s offense, which can go at you on the ground and through the air, while Simcox says Park Hill has gradually focused more on their run game throughout the season.

“They’re a very balanced offense because they have two receivers who can run good routes,” Reynolds said. “They want to pound the ball at you with their tailback.”

“They’re going back to the run game which is what they’ve done for years, where they were more spread out to begin the year,” Simcox said.

Last week Park Hill believed combining a bend, but don’t break defense and steady offensive run game would give them the edge they needed against a versatile St. Joe Central team. They briefly followed that script to build a 14-0 lead in the first half, but it would be short-lived as the Indians would battle back for a 32-29 win in a frustrating night for the Trojans. Kenyatte Harris gave the Trojan running game a reliable hand as he contributed three touchdown runs, ending the night with 191 yards on 25 carries. In the end, St. Joe Central would rack up 536 yards of offense against the Trojans.

Reynolds said the hope he has for his young squad is that he can look back and say they improved throughout the year and learned to understand the game better.

“My only goal is that by Week 10 our kids have gotten better than where we started,” Reynolds said. “Even with our seniors, I want them to understand how to play the game.”

In Liberty last week, Park Hill South did a good job of limiting Liberty North running back Antwynn Beavers to just 78 yards, but left themselves vulnerable to the pass in the close, down-to-the-wire game. The Panthers battled back from a 14-0 second quarter deficit to pull ahead of Liberty North 21-17 early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Shaefer Schuetz connected with receiver Craig Scott for a ten-yard touchdown pass, his second of the night. The Eagles would respond with the game’s final scores though, a touchdown with about two minutes to play which would hand the Panthers a 24-21 loss.

“We weren’t very good on offense in the first half and not very good on defense in the second half,” Simcox said. “We were really concerned about their running back so we did some things to make sure he didn’t get away from us. We knew we would give up some in the passing game, but not as much as we did.”

Third time is a charm for Park Hill

Before the season even began, the Park Hill and Park Hill South soccer teams knew they could potentially face each other up to four times before the season was over. Park Hill South would go on to hand Park Hill losses in their previous two meetings, the most recent being a 1-0 win in double overtime just two weeks ago to clinch the Panther Classic tournament title. Whether it real or pure clique, the old saying about it being hard to beat a team three times held true in the teams’ third meeting as Park Hill would break a scoreless stalemate when Matt Russell scored a late goal with about three minutes left in the game to gain the 1-0 advantage. The goal would serve as the game winner and give Round Three to the Trojans.

Park Hill coach Josh Marchbank says after losing two games to their rival they came to play with a different sense of urgency and focus.

“For our seniors, we said this was the last time we were going to play Park Hill South on this field so after losing two games to them earlier this season, for lot of these guys it was a motivator,” Marchbank said. “We talked about how the first two games we let the environment and the frustrations take hold. Tonight we really stepped up to the task. We possessed the ball very well tonight.”

Park Hill defender Cain Winebrenner believed the victory, compared to their previous two losses to the Panthers, came down to determination and the will to win.

“We hope to use this as momentum to get the second half of our season started and get ready for districts,” Winebrenner said. “We were hungrier (than last time) and we came out ready to play.”

Park Hill South coach Joe Toigo says Monday’s loss has more to do with not converting scoring opportunities than any kind of perceived difficulty of beating a team three times, something the Panthers have struggled with so far this season.

“It’s our fault for the margin of error. If we put the balls away and score, we’re up 2-0. It’s our problem and has nothing to do with beating them three times or four times,” Toigo said. “No matter who we play, our margin of error has been very thin because we don’t finish the opportunities that are there. If you take away our blowouts, we’re only winning by an average of 0.8 goals a game.”

Leading up to their game Monday night, Park Hill South went 2-0 last week with a 1-0 win over Rockhurst in which Adam Weatherly scored the winning goal in the final minutes as well as a 9-0 win over Ruskin. Park Hill defeated Ruskin 10-0 and Truman 4-2 before losing to Blue Springs South in a closely contested 3-2 match.

Park Hill, now 14-5, faces Liberty this week before finishing out the regular season against Staley and St. Joe Central next week. Park Hill South, with a record of 18-4, looks to Kearney Thursday and next week will conclude their schedule against Truman and Oak Park. Just around the corner for both is the postseason and a potential fourth matchup between the two teams in district play, this time with the winner moving on and the loser ending their season. With tough regular season schedules designed to prepare them for postseason situations, both teams should be primed for the challenge.

“The goal is to play every game like the state championship,” Toigo said. “That way you’ve played it 25 times before you get there.”

Park Hill, South Dug for the Cure

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and each year around the country individuals, schools, and organizations host events to raise funds to promote awareness and research. Last week the Park Hill and Park Hill South volleyball teams participated in a Dig For The Cure match with both teams sporting pink jerseys along with family and friends in the crowd. Pink overwhelmed the inside of Park Hill’s gym while outside in the hallways a silent auction was held.

“The cause is so important, more important than the game, and we’re bringing awareness to these young athletes,” Park Hill coach Lindsey Hood said. “We had several survivors come in to speak to us because one out of eight girls gets breast cancer, so it really is important to highlight.”

T-shirt sales for the game raised nearly $2,200 with an overall goal of $5,000 being set when combined with the silent auction and donations. This is the third year Park Hill has hosted or participated in a Dig For The Cure event.

“The gym is crowded and it’s a rivalry game, so whatever we can do to bring awareness to the cause,” Hood said.

As for competition on the court, the Panthers defeated the Trojans in two games, 25-21 and 25-9. Park Hill South would go on to win against Lee’s Summit North 25-22, 25-20 to end the week. Park Hill beat Truman in conference play 25-23, 25-15 before going 3-1 in the Grain Valley Spikefest Tournament with wins against Oak Grove, Fatima, and Smithville.

“I’m really proud of our girls this second half of the season, which is the most important part. They’ve really just been coming together and what we’ve been doing on our side,” Hood said. “Servicing seems to be our bread and butter, if we’re not producing there we’re not producing in other places.”

Park Hill is now 15-11 on the year while Park Hill South is 20-2. This week both will wrap up their regular season before looking to the district tournament. Park Hill will take on St. Joe Central in the first round of Class 4, District 16 play 6:30pm on October 22^nd at Liberty. Park Hill South notched a first round bye and will play the winner of Winnetonka/William Chrisman in the semifinals of Class 4, District 15 play on at 5:30pm on October 24^th at William Chrisman.

Park Hill still looking for quality win

A tough 38-0 loss to Liberty last week will require the Park Hill Trojans (3-4) refocus on district seeding implications as they take on St. Joe Central (3-4) this week. Central is coming off a 24-6 loss to Park Hill South where the Indians compiled 226 passing yards, but were unable to convert critical plays into points on the board.

“They can do a bunch of different things and they can throw the ball well, but they can also run the ball well too,” Park Hill coach Greg Reynolds said. “We’re going to go where we’ve had success and that is in controlling the football, make them drive the ball, and slow the game down. Keep their offense off the field.”

No question about it, Park Hill has several motivating factors to rebound this week, the most important being staying in contention for an advantageous third seed out of the possible six teams in Class 5, District 8, but also the fact St. Joe Central ended the Trojans’ season last year with a defeat, which Reynolds says can be partially attributed to which team was more physical. That may rest in the mind of some, but the key for a young squad is to focus on what they can control

“Last year when they beat us, they were more physical than we were and we took them for granted on that,” Park Hill coach Greg Reynolds said. “It’s a reality, if we win that game we’re still playing in the playoffs. We don’t need to worry about who we’re playing though, but more on what we do.”

Part of that physical mentality was lacking last week against Liberty as Park Hill found themselves outsized and somewhat surprised to see a Blue Jay passing game come alive, which had previously not been seen as a strength. Liberty connected on several big pass plays in the first quarter before Caleb Taylor pulled in a 31-yard touchdown reception to put Park Hill in a 7-0 hole. On their next drive, they would rely on the ground game this time, driving 80 yards in seven plays to post another touchdown putting Liberty up 14-0 early in the second quarter.

While Park Hill was down, they were not out, and saw some early success with their own running game. But Liberty essentially sealed the game with two scores before halftime when they completed two long pass plays before punching in a one-yard touchdown to make the score 21-0. Park Hill fumbled the ensuing kickoff where Liberty recovered and produced a field goal to extend their lead to 24-0 going into halftime.

“We kind of got bogged down and out of our rhythm. We stopped their running game early, but gave up big plays passing-wise and it just kind of snowballed from there,” Reynolds said. “Our kids tried to make plays outside what they need to do, which cost us some turnovers.”

Liberty would convert two of those Park Hill turnovers into points in the second half. The first would be in the third quarter when Jacob Zimmerman intercepted quarterback Clay Ford and returned it for a 68-yard touchdown. The second would be on a 9-yard touchdown run from Liberty’s Matthew Zombo after the Blue Jays recovered a Park Hill fumble deep in Trojan territory. Liberty held Park Hill to 147 yards offensively, allowed only nine first downs, and prevented a single third-down conversion on the night.

“We had some opportunities, but they’re a good defensive team and have some size,” Reynolds said. “In years when we’re more physical than they are, we’ve won, and when they’ve been more physical than us, they’ve won.”

Looking forward, the Trojans know the only thing that matters now are the next two weeks which, after St. Joe Central, feature a showdown with rival Park Hill South. All district games with postseason implications.

“These next two weeks are huge,” Reynolds said. “We know we can do it. If we have a big week of practice, we have a chance to be where we want to be.”

Panthers look to contain Liberty North running game

A 24-6 win over St. Joe Central (3-4) last week gave the Park Hill South (4-3) football team a boost in the district standings, putting them in contention to play for a coveted first round district tournament bye over the next two weeks. While a highly anticipated matchup with Park Hill is on the horizon for the regular season’s final game Oct. 19^th, the Panthers must first focus on the immediate task at hand which is traveling to face Liberty North (3-4). Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox says threat number one is the talented speed of Eagles running back Antwynn Beavers who ran for 254 yards in Liberty North’s 33-22 win over Platte County last week.

“He’s probably faster than anyone we’ve got,” Simcox said. “We’ll have to do a good job of scheming against him so he doesn’t get away from us.”

It will go from one defensive focus to another as Park Hill South shutdown a pass-heavy St. Joe Central offense last week, preventing the Indians from scoring until late in the fourth quarter. With district implications on the line, both teams knew their postseason outlooks would be affected by the result.

Park Hill South posted their first score on the opening drive when quarterback Shaefer Schuetz connected with receiver Craig Scott for a 17-yard touchdown early in the first quarter. While the Panthers were frustrated with their defensive efforts early in allowing several first downs, they were able to prevent St. Joe Central from scoring on their most productive drive of the first half.

“Their offense is pretty dynamic, so we tried to hold on to every (offensive) possession as long as could. We don’t like giving up yards in chunks like we did. It turns the game into something we don’t want it to be,” Park Hill South coach Mark Simcox said. “It’s hard to play defense knowing you’re going to give up some plays, but if you make them snap the ball one more time and do that enough, it’s tough for the other team to keep it going.”

Myles Hammonds tacked on a two-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to increase the Panther lead to 14-0 going into halftime.

Jacob Sneden put a 36-yard field goal through the uprights with under five minutes left in the third quarter to increase the Panthers’ advantage to 17-0. An early fourth quarter 32-yard pass from Schuetz to receiver Nick Griffith set up a one-yard touchdown run from Hammonds, his second of the night, to increase the lead to 24-0. Hammonds would finish the night with 40 carries for 125 yards. Another Panther who had a big night was Scott who pulled in seven receptions for 123 yards despite finding himself in double coverage most of the night.

“When they do that, we have to be able to run it, and tonight we did it,” Simcox said.

Fall Round-up: Oct. 2-8

Park Hill South Soccer

…defeated Liberty North 1-0 in the first round of their annual Panther Classic last week before running into a lightning delay during the second overtime of their semifinal game against Smithville. With the final ten minutes of the contest rescheduled to be decided prior to the tournament’s championship game, Derek Braun’s game winning goal about halfway through the period to give South the 1-0 over Smithville served as a good warm-up for their title game appearance later in the afternoon against Park Hill, which would be another marathon match.

Neither side was surprised that the second match-up so far this season between Park Hill and Park Hill South was full of physicality and fouls, a common feature on display between the two teams in years past. Just the same, no one on hand for the championship game would leave without their money’s worth in watching two quality teams duel it out over 80 minutes and two overtime periods without a score being given up.

That would end when Brian Kissee gave the Panthers their second double overtime victory of the day and, most importantly, their second win of the season over rival Park Hill.

The Panthers continue with a strong schedule moving forward.

“The good thing is when you play teams like these and include the schedule we have coming up, it’s like the playoffs, so that’s good this time of the year,” Park Hill South coach Joe Toigo said.

With a senior-laden team set on high expectations, Toigo says he’s seen some encouraging signs his players are up to the task.

“They have an understanding maturity-wise of how we handle certain situations so that we can win some games,” Toigo said.

Park Hill South, now 15-3, plays Ruskin before facing a third matchup against Park Hill Monday followed by a conference matchup with Lee’s Summit West which could decide a share of the league title.

Park Hill Soccer

…won games against North Kansas City (4-0) and Ray-Pec (1-0) in the Park Hill South Panther Classic last week to land themselves in the title match against Park Hill South. As anticipated the game was a classic double overtime thriller, full of physical play and yellow cards. In the end, Park Hill South would come away with the golden goal and a 1-0 victory. Park Hill coach Josh Marchbank said his team simply ran out of energy towards the end of the game.

“We struggled to keep possession and move forward as a unit,” Marchbank said. “In our system of play we demand a very high work rate and today our boys ran out of gas.”

The Trojans fall to 11-4 on the year and look to games against Truman and Blue Springs South this week. They defeated Rockhurst 1-0 Monday after Adam Weatherly scored a goal with under five minutes to play for the game winner.

Park Hill South Volleyball

…Park Hill South had been anticipating the rematch with Lee’s Summit West ever since their early season loss accounted for the only blemish on the Panthers’ record coming into last Thursday’s second meeting. While they would put up a fight, the now 18-2 Panthers’ would fall in consecutive games to the strong-hitting Titans 25-18 and 25-20. Coach Debbie Fay believes her team is better than they were in the previous meeting, but did not pass well enough to beat a quality team like Lee’s Summit West.

“We battled, but we did not pass well and if we don’t pass well we will struggle against a team like this. You have to have you’re A game if you’re going to beat them and even some help from them. Everyone has to have a good game if we’re going to get it done.”

Even with the defeat, there were positives to take away from the performance.

“We had a couple kids who had good games,” Fay said. “That’s the best I’ve seen Samantha Nay hit and Ashton Anderson played amazing defense. She had two strong blocks and she’s the smallest on the team.”

As the Panthers head down the stretch run of their regular season to look towards districts, they will face a strong schedule which will be advantageous. Their hopes are to see Lee’s Summit West again, this time in a high stakes state playoff game.

“We have good competition the next two weeks so we’re going to need to battle, which is what we need,” Fay said. “I hope we face them again, it would really matter if we’re lucky to face them again.”

As The Citizen went to press Tuesday night, Park Hill South was playing Park Hill in a “Dig For The Cure” match, an event used to raise money and promote awareness for cancer search.

Park Hill South Tennis

…notched their second consecutive district title last week by beating Oak Park (5-2) and Park Hill (6-0). Coaches Glynis Chambers and Ian Cunliff say it was a team effort from top to bottom.

“They all just really came through, all came out and played hard,” Chambers said. “The team’s just been really deep and we felt like we had a strong fighting chance.”

Asked what obstacles this year’s team faced compared to last year, Cunliff pointed to the difference in conference alignment and how higher quality competition made it more difficult, which forced them to focus more.

“This year was harder because of the competition we faced,” Cunliff said. “A common theme we focused on was process: playing the process regardless of win or loss, regardless of the outcome. Just to do things the right way.”

Park Hill South will host St. Joe Central, a team they beat during the regular season, in team sectional play this weekend. The winner will face the winner of the Notre Dame de Sion/Lee’s Summit North match-up. If Park Hill South advances, they will land themselves a spot in the state’s Final Four, something which has not been done in the school’s history.

In individual singles, Adele Royle defeated Park Hill’s Brooke Barnard 7-6, 6-2 in the district title match. Royle advanced to individual sectional play which took place in St. Joe Tuesday and scores were not available as of The Citizen’s deadline.

Park Hill Tennis

…while Park Hill did not finish the season the way they would have imagined, the Trojans did leave something to hang their hat on for next season. After winning the opening round contest against North Kansas City 6-3, the Trojans upset second-seeded St. Theresa’s Academy 5-4 in the district semifinal last week. This set them up for a matchup against rival Park Hill South in the district title contest with both team’s defending previous district title considerations. Park Hill’s short upset run would fall short though as Park Hill South would win all six individual matches to secure the title match 6-0.

In the individual portion of the district tournament, Brooke Barnard would advance through the bracket for a title matchup against Park Hill South’s Adele Royle before falling 7-6, 6-2. With her second place finish, Barnard advanced and was competing in sectional play Tuesday afternoon. Results were not available at the time of The Citizen’s deadline.

Park Hill Boys Cross Country

….placed fifth at the Suburban Red Conference meet last weekend. Kainen Utt finished in sixth place with a time of 16:40 while Nate Thomas followed with a ninth place finish. Other Trojan runners competing included Hanok Tekle (22^nd), James Adams (31^st), Carter Barajas (36^th), and Graham England (37^th).

Park Hill South Boys Cross Country

…was fourth out of six teams at the Suburban Red Conference meet over the weekend. Tucker Melles impressed with his time of 16:17 and fourth place finish. Other Panther finishes included Keeyan Lunders (14^th), Gus Whitman (24^th), Lendon Calhoun (25^th), Triston McCoy (28^th), Alex Thurston (29^th), and Eli Williams (34^th).

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

…secured a third place finish in the Suburban Red Conference meet last weekend. Madeline Homoly’s time of 20:44 and 10^th place finish led the Panthers while Erica Guzman came closely behind in 11^th place. The rest of the Park Hill South field included Charlie McFarlane (16^th), Margaret McKeon (17^th), Audrey Rothers (18^th), and DeDe O’Toole (26^th).

Park Hill Girls Cross Country

…placed fourth in the Suburban Red Conference meet last weekend. Kim Rau and Mercedes Robinson’s 13^th and 14^th place respective finishes led the Trojans. Other Trojan results included Emma Gaiser (22^nd), Gianna Tutorino (24^th), and Brooke Bischof (25^th).

Park Hill/Park Hill South swimming
...the Trojans and Panthers met in a dual last week with Park Hill South pulling out a 102-83 win. Park Hill South qualified two new swimmers for state with Alex Heuton in the 50 yard freestyle and Caleb Siebert in the 100 yard backstroke.

Park Hill Golf
...finished fourth in the sectional meet Monday with a team score of 391, ending their shot at a first-time appearance in the state tournament next week. However, Adrianna Elliott and Bailey Warlen did qualify as individuals and will be making the trip. Elliott finished tied for fourth place with a score of +13 while Warlen finished tied for 11th with a score of +22. Sydney Paulak missed qualifying for state by one stroke with her score of +25. Josie Stevenson and Jaqueline Yong finished back to back with scores of +44 and +45.

Park Hill South Golf
...will be sending one golfer to state with Lindsey Gile qualifying in the sectional round Monday with her score of +18, tying her for seventh place. Sydney Sanders (+33) and Laiya Smith (+37) also competed in the sectional tournament for the Panthers.

Critical district game awaits South after loss

With their 31-6 loss to undefeated Lee's Summit West last Friday, the Park Hill South Panthers (3-3) saw their three game win streak snapped and will look to begin anew this week as they host St. Joe Central (3-3). Both teams have had similar seasons, having seen promising signs of momentum come and go. This game will be an opportunity for the winner to record a victory over a competitive opponent for their postseason resume.

While Coach Mark Simcox says his team didn't play as bad as the score may indicate, it was the big play ability of Lee's Summit West that had the most effect on the game. Having given up a punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter to put Park Hill South in an early 10-0 hole, Lee's Summit West found the end zone one more time before halftime to give the Titans a 17-0 lead.

Park Hill South's main focus coming into the game was on shutting down the Titan run game, which it did accomplish with some effectiveness, but this left the Panthers vulnerable to the deep pass as Lee's Summit West quarterback Thomas Ganaden would finish with 237 yards passing on the night.

Offensively, the Panthers struggled throughout the night. Other than a red zone threat in the third quarter which eventually ended with an interception, Park Hill South's only opportunity to score came when Carson Reid connected with Nick Griffith on a one-yard route for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to narrow the final margin to 31-7.

Park Hill focusing on task at hand after night they'll never forget

Few athletes are able to fulfill their dreams of playing professionally, but Park Hill soccer was afforded the unique opportunity to experience just what it would be like with a game at Livestrong Sporting Park against Northland rival Oak Park last Friday night. On the same night Sporting KC clinched a spot in the Major League Soccer playoffs, Park Hill and Oak Park would provide the closing act on a night that would live up to and exceed expectations for all those involved, providing memories which will last a lifetime.

“It was something they were jazzed up about all day,” Park Hill coach Josh Marchbank said. “Everyone was giddy and it was a phenomenal experience. I’ve been a (Sporting KC) season ticket holder for the last five years. I love coming out here so it’s a special moment for me and our guys to be able to sit on the bench and have all these fans out here.”

 While Sporting KC attracted a record breaking crowd to Livestrong for the main event earlier in the evening, about 1,000 fans between the two schools turned out for the high school game that followed. However, the circumstances of the contest were no random coincidence, but a testament to Oak Park senior Ray Saari, an all-state selection, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer as a sophomore and has battled through a recovery, all while continuing to play. His relationship with the stadium’s namesake organization, Livestrong, is what prompted the idea of hosting the first high school match to be played at the park. Saari and Oak Park selected Park Hill as their opponent because of the healthy rivalry between the two teams and, possibly even more important, the relationship Saari has with some of his Trojan counterparts.

“Playing with Ray, he’s a personal friend of mine and I love him so much. I want to thank him for picking us to play them here,” Park Hill senior Neal Sampson said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Oak Park and just being here with my team and family has been just awesome.”

The atmosphere had everything a professional game would. Players warmed up to stadium music anthems, were introduced by the public address announcer while their pictures were shown on the scoreboard, and sat on the comfortably designed chairs that traditionally are reserved for professionals only.

“I think the moment that got me was when we walked out of the tunnel for the first time. When these guys walked out to the FIFA anthem to play in front of 1000 fans, it’s a special experience,” Marchbank said. “It was incredibly loud. I looked at the guys faces and every set of eyes was popping out of their heads.

Excitement and anticipation were almost building to an unbearable point leading up to kickoff. It was so bad Marchbank says he thinks it was partially responsible for a tough 2-0 conference loss the night before to Lee’s Summit West. This night though would belong to the Trojans as Timmy Hay set up Keaton Anchors in the 13^th minute for the game’s only goal. Days and weeks of restlessness building up for the game were evident on the field as players competed with the desire and physicality of a state playoff game. The Trojans hope to use it as a building block for the rest of their season.

“We talked about it before the game that this can be a turning point in our season. It’s halfway through the season and we need to work out the fine things and really perfect things going into districts,” Marchbank said. “To get a win in an atmosphere like this is really going to give us the motivation to move forward and be successful.”

“We’ve been talking about this game every day. Came into this game excited, played well, and got a win,” Sampson said. “We have to take it one game at a time; this is a good place to start.”

The immediate task at hand has the Trojans, now 9-3 on the year, focusing on their appearance in the Park Hill South Panther Classic tournament this week, but the lasting memories of their Livestrong experience will remain for years to come.

“Great experience, great environment,” Marchbank said. “It’s awesome and I’ll never forget this night.”

Fall Round-up: Sept. 24-Oct. 1

Park Hill Girls Tennis
…concluded their regular season last week with a close 5-4 loss to a talented St. Joe Central team. Brooke Barnard, Kaylin Lake, and Abby Peoples won their singles matches early, but the Indians came back to win the match in the later rounds. The Trojans wrapped up their schedule with a record of 7-9 on the year.

Park Hill defeated NKC yesterday in the opening round of districts 7-2. They face #2 St. Theresa's today in semi's.

Park Hill South Girls Tennis

…clinched their second straight conference title last week with an 8-1 win over Lee’s Summit West. The Panthers finished their regular season with a 9-1 record and were competing in the Class 2, District 15 team semifinals as The Citizen went to press Tuesday evening. The individual portion of that tournament will be played over the weekend at Barry Park.

Park Hill South Softball

….went 2-1 in the final week of the regular season last week with wins over Lee’s Summit West (4-2) and Park Hill (4-0). Sandwiched in between those two victories was a 3-0 loss to Truman.

Alyx Hagen recorded both victories from the mound.

Park Hill South clinched a number one seed in the Class 4, District 16 tournament this week and will face the winner of the Oak Park/St. Joe Central game in the semifinal Thursday evening.

Park Hill South Volleyball

…kept rolling last week with a big win over Blue Springs South as the Panthers took the first game in overtime 26-24 before clinching the match in the second game with a 25-20 win. Now 19-1 on the season, Park Hill South looks to a rematch against Lee’s Summit West, the only team to have beaten the Panthers this season.

“It was a great match and our kids came so ready to play.  I can’t tell you how proud of them I am.  Blue Springs South is an awesome team and we so love that kind of competition. We have to get up again because Lee’s Summit West is coming to South on Thursday,” Park Hill South coach Debbie Fay said.

Park Hill Volleyball

…split their two matches last week with a convincing win over Ruskin in two games with wins of 25-2 and 25-4. They fell to conference leader Lee’s Summit West to end the week with losses of 25-13 and 25-18. The Trojans are now 10-8-3 on the season will have some time off with their next scheduled match at Raytown on October 8^th. Lindsey Grace continues to lead the team in kills (123) and blocks (40). While Olivia Nowakowski leads in digs with 211 and Kelsey Bearce in assists with 143.

Park Hill South Boys Soccer

…dropped a competitive conference game to Lee’s Summit West to start last week with a 2-1 loss as the Titans scored a late second half goal to earn the win. Brian Kissee scored the Panthers lone goal. Park Hill South win their remaining two games with a Brody Bouillon goal secured a 1-0 win over Truman followed by a 7-0 win over St. Joe Central where Kissee recorded three goals. Daniel Herrjon (2), Adam Weatherly, and Jordan Lindsey also contributed goals in the victory.

Kissee who had previously only had two goals on the year, now leads the Panthers’ in goals with six this season.

Park Hill South, who is now 12-3 on the year, is hosting their annual tournament this week and will play Smithville Thursday with the title game scheduled for Saturday. 

Park Hill Boys Cross Country

…finished 25^th out of 37 teams at the KC Metro Classic over the weekend. Kainen Utt led the Trojans as he came in 20^th in the packed field of runners. Nate Thomas (90^th), James Adams (174^th), Cain Winebrenner (193^rd), Graham England (206^th), Carter Barajas (216^th), and Riley Fahrenholz (243^rd) competed for the Trojans. Park Hill will run in the conference meet this weekend in St. Joe.

Park Hill South Boys Cross Country

…finished 20^th out of 37 teams competing at the KC Metro Classic over the weekend. Tucker Melles came in 16^th as the Panthers top finisher. Keyan Lunders (97^th), Lendon Calhoun (132^nd), Eli Williams (167^th), Jacob Bowlin (192^nd), and Isaac Frieden (201^st) rounded out the Panther field. Park Hill South will run in the conference meet this weekend in St. Joe.

Park Hill Girls Cross Country

…took 27^th out of 33 teams at the KC Metro Classic last week. Merecedes Robinson came in 61^st place while Kim Rau (70^th), Emma Gaiser (154^th), Brooke Bischof (195^th), and Gianna Tutorino (204^th) also competed for the Trojans. Park Hill will run in the conference meet this weekend in St. Joe.

Park Hill South Girls Cross Country

…18^th out of 33 teams in the KC Metro Classic last weekend. Erica Guzman finished in 76^th place for the Panthers with Lizzy Jurries shortly behind in 78^th. Other Panthers competing included Margaret McKeon (89^th), Audrey Rother (116^th), and DeDe O’Toole (191^st).

 Park Hill South Girls Golf
...finished fourth at the district tournament Monday afternoon. Lindsey Gile led the way for the Panthers with her sixth place score of 91. Sydney Sanders and Laiya Smith, who shot 101 and 102 respectively, joined Gile in qualifying individually for the state sectional tournament. Other scores for Park Hill South included Ashley Kildow's 118 and Tarah Patneau's 123.

Park Hill Girls Golf

...had a historic week last week culminating in a district title Monday. In their final dual of the regular season, the Trojans posted a all-time low score of 184 as a team. Bailey Warlen, medalist, and Adrianna Elliott led the way with their first and second place scores of 40 and 42. That performance set the stage for their first-ever district title win Monday afternoon when Elliott posted a third place score of 88 with Warlen not far behind with her fifth place score of 90. Elliott, Warlen, and Sydney Paulak, who shot a 103, all qualified individually for the state sectional tournament prior to clinching the team title, which allows the Trojans to compete all five of their varsity golfers. The closest Park Hill has been to winning a district title in recent years came last year when they placed second. Elliott and Warlen were honored as Applebee's Athletes of the Week for their performances.